Has Aaron Gordon lived up to expectations?

Written by Kyle Williams on 22 January 2017

My oh my, 17-27 is one ugly record for the Magic. Considering this team had playoff hopes, it just makes things even worse. However, moving on from the team as a whole, what about the individual players? Have any of them improved?

One player that comes to mind for sure is starting small forward Aaron Gordon. Drafted back in 2015 as the fourth pick, expectations were rather high for Gordon. Yes, they were comparisons to All-Star Blake Griffin while he was first coming up, but everyone guessed he would be a "discount" version of Griffin. Which isn't bad, but this season has had its fair share of disappointments. Is Gordon one of them?

Well, he's currently averaging 11.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. That's off 27.3 minutes per game, as well. Not bad, but it's an eye opener when you compare it to last season. Rebounding wise, he's dipped from 6.5 to 4.7. That's also from fewer minutes (23.9) than he's currently getting now. The points category increased, mainly because he has the ball in his hands more. So that means more three-point shots and long range jumpers in general. He's shooting 32.3 percent from three, so it's something that can improve. Overall, stats aside, he's been decent.

It's apparent that Gordon puts his heart on the court. He cares about Orlando, and his surplus of effort is easy to see. Although, this is his third season as an NBA player, and he's still not consistent. For example, back on the 11th of this month, Gordon scored 28 points off 11 of 17. Keep in mind, that was against the Los Angeles Clippers, an elite Western Conference team. However, the game before that, he scored 2 points and was 0 of 4 from the three-point line. Also keep in mind, that was against the Los Angeles Lakers, a team that's struggling just as much as the Magic are.

Not to discredit Gordon in the slightest, but his production is very unpredictable.

So far in this season, Gordon has shown glimpses of hope. However, as a whole, he hasn't quite broken the surface of his potential. He's only 21, so there are plenty of professional basketball years ahead of him. The Magic should worry on about their team as a whole, more than Gordon. Only time will tell to see what happens.

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